Our Lady of the Angels Church is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

Erith Erith () is an area in south-east London, England, east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the historical county of Kent. Since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Bexley. It lies north ...

, London. It was built in 1963 by the

Capuchins Capuchin can refer to: *Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, an order of Roman Catholic friars *Capuchin Poor Clares, an order of Roman Catholic contemplative religious sisters *Capuchin monkey, primates of the genus ''Cebus'' and ''Sapajus'', named af ...

who have been in the area since 1867. It is located on the corner of Bexley Road and Carlton Road. It is the only Catholic Church in London served by Capuchin priests and

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

said that its "classical styling of the tall entrance arches and the landmark

campanile A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

are powerful features in the street scene."Friaries
from CapGB.org, retrieved 11 May 2021''Taking Stock''
Erith – Our Lady of the Angels

, retrieved 11 May 2021

History

Foundation

In 1867, a Capuchin priest, Fr Maurice started a

mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

in Erith for the local Catholic community. He lived in a house in Cross Street, where he said

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

. Later a site was bought on West Street, where St Fidelis' Church, a school and presbytery was built. In 1875, a

friary A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may ...

for the Capuchins was established, and new buildings constructed around the church. Later, the current site of the church was bought. In October 1902, building work started on new friary for the Capuchins there. In 1903, the new friary was opened. In the 1920s a hall was built on the site which was used as the church. In 1947, part of the friary was turned into a chapel.

Construction

In 1960, St Fidelis' Primary School was opened. In 1962, construction work started on Our Lady of the Angels Church next to the school. On 9 September 1962, the foundation stone was laid by the Bishop of Southwark

Cyril Cowderoy Cyril Conrad Cowderoy (5 May 1905 – 10 October 1976) was a priest for over 45 years and a bishop for over 26 years in the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales. Cowderoy was born in Sidcup, Kent, on 5 May 1905 and ordained a priest in ...

. The church was designed by the architectural firm Archard & Partners and construction work was done by H. Friday & Sons, of Erith. In December 1963, the church opened. It cost £45,750. In 1989, the original St Fidelis' Church was demolished. Before its demolition, two stained glass windows were taken from St Fidelis' Church and were transferred to Our Lady of the Angels Church. After 2000, the parish hall built in the 1920s was replaced by the Angelus Centre.

Parish

The church has four Sunday Masses at 5:30pm on Saturday, 8:30am, 10:30am and 6:00pm on Sunday, with a 12:30pm Mass in Polish every second Sunday of the month. There are Masses at 9:00am from Monday to Friday and a 10:30am on Saturday.

References

External links